


il reste du temps

by VITRI0L



Series: the branches of time are withering [8]
Category: DreamSMP, Minecraft (Video Game), Tales From The SMP - Fandom
Genre: Angst and Feels, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Non-Graphic Violence, Temporary Amnesia, Temporary Character Death, The InBetween - Freeform, The Masquerade, Time Travel, Time Travelling Karl Jacobs, Web Series: Tales from the SMP, i spedran this like i speed run my love for TFTSMP, no beta we die like karl, the egg, time travelling takes a toll on karl & sapnap & quackity are there for him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-16 09:20:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29205015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VITRI0L/pseuds/VITRI0L
Summary: karl travels back to the masquerade and is surprised who he finds there with him.//lowercase intentional\\•••“no matter where he went.his dearest companions and most loving fiancées always followed.”
Relationships: Alexis | Quackity/Karl Jacobs/Sapnap, only in context of the SMP lore
Series: the branches of time are withering [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2120232
Comments: 13
Kudos: 296
Collections: Completed stories I've read, Fanfics I’d eat again at 3 am and already have





	1. he rests

**Author's Note:**

> i fucking love tales from the smp, man.
> 
> title: il reste du temps - lo mimieux

karl always found them. 

no matter what time period he was violently thrown into by the swirling of green and purple, no matter who they were portraying, whether it be a fisherman, a village person or a millionaire from long ago, they were always there.

sapnap and quackity.

no matter where he went.

his dearest companions and most loving fiancées always followed.

helga, a elderly woman with a fiery and oddly sexual way about her. from the boldfaced quips to the downright hilarious way she conducted herself, karl recognized who she was immediately. 

cleetus, a obnoxious fisherman with a spitfire mouth and almost angry heart, who dive headfirst into Mizu and was unafraid to tell the others what he thought.

drew p, a person with no wealth suddenly appearing at a masquerade for the rich, who was loud, a self proclaimed nudist and a rather out of place character.

all of them held the soul of the man he loved.

what surprised karl the most about his most recent travel wasn’t the egg, the murders, the betrayal or the fact that the past served mike’s hard lemonade.

it wasn’t a what, it was a _who._

_james._

a man with raven hair that stuck every what way. white dress shirt crumpled gently, a dizzy look in those navy eyes and a mask that resembled the half of a ying yang symbol covered his face. 

but when those dark eyes connected with karl’s cool, brown ones, something sparked within his heart. 

a soft fire set his soul ablaze, just as it had with helga, cleetus and just as it would for drew p too.

karl distinctly remembered biting his bottom lip so harshly, he nearly split it to keep the name on the tip of his tongue from the others.

_sapnap._

the brunette could have cried when he watched quackity’s soul waltz through the grand mansion door, immediately drawn to karl where he stood beside sapnap’s soul.

they’d found him again. and both of them were there this time.

karl wished so desperately that the trip wouldn’t be like his other ones. what a joy it would be to get to waltz with his two lovers, to spend a lovely evening together. 

the young man wished he could be naïve.

because he heard the screams echo through the gaudy halls and bounce of the harsh marble walls and dance through the myriad of rooms.

first, quackity.

and, inevitably, sapnap.

they weren’t really them, but in his adrenaline induced panic and with the gentle buzz of alcohol seeping through his viens, karl found himself pressing both hands to his face to keep from sobbing as he hid among the furniture.

quackity hidden behind the secret bookshelf, blood seeping out from behind the thick tomes and staining the worn paper.

sapnap sprawled unceremoniously in the room that he and billiam had been hiding beneath, axe nestled into the junction where his neck met his shoulder.

they weren’t his fiancées.

_right?_

everything didn’t make much sense by the time billiam revealed the red and hated egg to the brunet. karl felt a shiver run through his entire body as the billionaire monologued about the class system and the uselessness of poor people. he tried to escape twice, only to be cornered by the butler each time.

the time traveler made it to the hallway between the grand staircase on his second attempt.

he had no plan.

the front door was closed.

the window that was broken was just a little too far.

everyone else was dead.

sapnap and quackity were **_dead._**

 _oh,_ his muddled mind thought clearly.

suddenly, the flight and the adrenaline was washed away. karl found his legs beginning to lock up and he was no longer running. no longer needing to escape.

maybe he should have been concerned.

karl wasn’t.

the butler’s hurried steps rushed closer and closer.

billiam barked orders that the brunet didn’t quite catch. 

not that it mattered.

because from the window the lead to the second floor balcony did the morning light seep. soft and kind, the warm light of the new dawn broke into the house full of nothing but darkness. 

it was bright, so bright that karl was sure he’d suffer some sort of consequence for staring up at it so long. his weary eyes burned, but the young man couldn’t find the will to look away.

something warm ran down his cheeks, sadly sweet as the sun grew more confident, as if the young man’s gazing confirmed its beauty.

something cold pierced his abdomen, leaving behind a trail of fire that destroys everything in its way. 

karl felt his nerves catch aflame, quickly followed by his muscles and very bones. pain chased after the fire, determined to be everywhere the heat in his body had been.

 _it’s ok,_ a voice whispered.

because the sun continued to rise, climbing higher to peek into the mansion in the middle of nowhere. the soft light was suddenly engulfing the time traveler, cradling him in its tender arms and holding him close to its blazing core.

all karl could see was white.

the pain was gently being ebbed away.

and he could no longer hear billaim’s snotty voice or the shuffle of his butler.

the brunet knew where he’d end up.

he just hoped that the ghosts of sapnap and quackity would follow him there too.

_quackity and sapnap._

“i... love... you both—“ he murmured, words catching against his blood stained lips.

karl prayed they could hear him.

_it’s so... bright—_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i don’t know how happy i am with this? but i’m definitely gonna be editing this all evening.
> 
> i could scream about tales from the smp for hours, it’s so good dude! 
> 
> anyways, onto the next chapter!


	2. in time

sapnap wasn’t sure why he awoke in the middle of the night to find only one of his partners by his side but it didn’t help the growing pit in his stomach.

their room was dark as the moon peeked carefully out from behind some darkened clouds from beyond the window. usually, the raven haired man would make himself lay back down amongst the heavy blankets with a sleeping quackity by his side and tell himself that it would all be fine. that karl would be back in the morning, and then he’d ask his partner what all of the sneaking around at night was about. 

~~(though, sapnap never asked because he was... afraid.)~~

with one more careful look to his remaining partner, sapnap quietly crept from the bed and across the cold wood floors. 

the door, which was always too loud, let him out with nothing more than a gentle whine.

he was out the front door in nothing but the white shirt and black sweatpants he’d fallen asleep in. 

the grass was cold and damp beneath the layer of his thin socks and the night wind caused shivers to cascade down his sides, but the texan found he didn’t care. 

the most pressing issue on his sleep addled mind was where karl could have gone to.

sapnap wouldn’t have to look far, for karl came stumbling through the not so gentle night.

the younger felt a deep sense of worry, so heavy it almost crushed his poor heart. there was something very wrong with the karl he was looking at, but he didn’t get enough time to make out what it was. 

because, his brunet lover’s dazed eyes had lit up when he noticed sapnap and he’d crushed the other into a bone crushing hug.

sapnap was too worried to push karl away as he could smell the sharp reek of alcohol clinging to the other, mixed with something more putrid and gag inducing. he didn’t let go, instead just rubbing the older’s back gently as he began to shake.

“karl... what’s wrong—“ sapnap whispered lightly, feeling the familiar warmth of tears soak his night shirt.

“i can’t believe you’re still alive,” the brunette muttered lowly.

karl was suddenly no longer embracing him, but holding the texan’s head in his hands. his pupils were blown and pure relief flooded every feature of his face.

sapnap would be lying if he said it didn’t absolutely terrify him.

“what are you— of course... karl?” he managed eloquently.

“james... i’m so glad.”

and karl was wrapping his arms around the younger once more as sapnap struggled to follow what his fiancé was saying.

he wondered fearfully, _who’s james?_

sapnap knew that karl was keeping secrets from him and q. the brunet had been awfully distance the past few weeks and much more prone to midnight disappearances that, when it first happened, scared the fuck out of the older’s partners.

karl and quackity had gotten into many more fights, and more frequently. it worried sapnap to no end, because both of his partner’s were so personal and loving and now, it would always be quackity who had to apologize to karl first.

sapnap feared for the stability of their relationship.

he knew q did too.

but, they never talked about it.

~~(as if not talking about it would make everything go back to normal again.)~~

~~(it wouldn’t.)~~

and now here karl stood, holding sapnap close as if the other was about to evaporate into thin air, calling him james and muttering about how relieved he was that the younger wasn’t dead.

“karl...” he started, trying to keep his voice steady, “let’s go inside, ok?”

said man nodded wearily into the texan’s shoulder.

so, he managed to tug himself out of his lover’s death grip and gently guiding the drunken brunette back to their small home. sapnap encircled one of karl’s bony wrists with his hand, careful not to jostle the other man around as the slowly made their way.

under the pale moonlight, sapnap could finally fully see his fiancé.

his stomach dropped and he had to chew the inside of his cheek from making any alarming noises.

karl’s eyes dropped every now and then as he fought to keep them open. his hair was wind blown and it stuck every which way. there was no color in his cheeks and there was red stain of ~~(blood)~~ wine that danced across his pallid lips. his vibrant sweater, so vivid and lively, looked pale too and it hung unnatural off of the other.

a golden pocket watch hung out from the sweater’s pocket just enough for sapnap to see the cracked glass beneath the golden cover.

he said nothing, merely opening the front door and leading the other inside. 

the door shut with a quite slam.

karl was already making his way towards the back of the home, to their bedroom. sapnap frowned as he’d not taken off his sneakers and was getting dirt everywhere.

 _that’s an issue for tomorrow,_ he thought, peeling off his own damp and dirty socks, leaving them by the threshold.

as the texan reached the doorway, he found karl standing in it, shoulders drawn up and body quivering slightly.

“karl?” sapnap asked gently, carefully sneaking past the brunet to get a good look at his lover’s face.

his brown eyes shook as the stared down at quackity’s sleeping form, tears staring to well once more. a hand covered his mouth and the older let out a soft _oh, god_ that burned sapnap’s very heart.

“oh, thank god,” karl began, voice cracking at the end, “he’s alive too. thank god.”

the younger grabbed onto his lover’s hand, pulling it away from karl’s mouth and towards sapnap’s chest. 

“what do you mean?” he dared, dark eyes watching karl’s every movement as he too tried not to tremble like a leaf. 

the brunet looked down, but his eyes are unfocused and far away.

“it’s so hard to keep watching him die,” karl replied, looking back to quackity, “i hate it... i hate seeing it...”

he rounded on sapnap, holding the younger by both shoulders. the raven haired teen tried not to flinch at the sudden movement as karl stared deep into his gaze.

“promise me, james,” he said, a little too loudly, “promise me that you’ll keep him safe. that you’ll keep the both of you safe.”

“i promise,” he said back, feeling tears flood his eyes at the desperate way karl spoke and too concerned to correct his distraught partner.

he sounded so afraid.

sapnap pushed all that down.

“do you want to go to sleep?” he asked quietly.

karl practically deflated, all sense of urgency lost. he nodded weakly.

so, sapnap gestured to the bed where karl instantly collapsed beside their third partner. sapnap fought the panic that stifled his mind and made it hard to breath and took his place next to the brunet. 

the harsh moonlight glinted off the warm gold.

“do you want that off?” sapnap questioned, reaching for the shattered watch.

karl steered his hands away, pressing his lips against the texan’s freezing hand.

karl hummed tiredly, finally relaxing into the pillow below. sapnap pulled his burning hand back, sneaking under the covers himself and ignoring the way his ears burned harsher.

the pocket watch that sapnap and quackity gave the brunet for their anniversary disappeared from view beneath the covers.

sapnap felt his heart twinge roughly.

he sat up, back against the headboard as karl was gone into unconsciousness immediately. the younger was too frazzled to pretend like everything was ok, instead opting to only fall asleep when his body shut down.

he was going to keep watch.

quackity rustled in his sleep and sapnap could hear a warm tinted voice ask, “what are you doing, sapnap?”, through the toughness of sleep.

the texan looked down to see q peering up at him through a curtain of ebony hair. sapnap smiled fondly as the other struggled to untangle himself from the blankets trying to pin him to the bed.

“it’s ok, q. you can go back to sleep,” he said softly, not wanted to startle karl.

that didn’t stop the smaller man’s wriggling however. sapnap rolled his eyes and watched his lover finally escape the blanket’s terrifying grasp.

“what’s wrong?” the other asked, now sitting up gently.

sapnap glanced down to the sleeping form of karl, now buried in the pillows of the king sized bed.

“i don’t know...” he sighed (which was true), “let’s talk about it in the morning, ok?”

quackity hummed knowingly, but his dark eyes still looked mildly concerned.

sapnap felt his heart flood with a sweet kind of love.

gentle yet chapped lips pressed against his own and the texan felt his face flood with heat. quackity pulled back, a gentle smile glowing in the night.

karl shifted and whimpered softly in his sleep.

quackity was quick to run a comforting hand through their eldest partner’s hair.

“let’s go to sleep, habibi,” he replied, eyes glancing at karl.

sapnap nodded quietly, a small sense of comfort trying to push out the event of the night from his confused and concerned mind.

the two slipped down to the mattress, winding their arms around the sleeping brunet. their arms brushed gently, the touch dancing through sapnap’s arm and right into his soul.

suddenly, he was not afraid about what would happen tomorrow.

not afraid of having to confront karl about what’d happened this night.

not afraid of karl and q getting into another screaming match.

not afraid of the relationship the sapnap cherished so much falling down around him.

because, he knew that they loved him, and if he’d ever doubted it, he knew much better after tonight. 

karl’s praises when he held sapnap close for the first time that night.

the brunet’s demand that sapnap promise to keep himself and quackity safe.

the gentle smile quackity gave him, the quick kiss and the way he held sapnap’s arm that meet the other’s across karl’s body.

they loved him.

and they wouldn’t leave him.

~~(not like dream did. not like he feared george was going to.)~~

sapnap loved them more than he’d ever admit.

 _i’d follow them anywhere,_ he thought as he was lulled into a dreamless sleep.

and that was the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TFTSMP & awesamdad content really keeping me afloat.
> 
> i haven’t posted too much lately because i got re-addicted to tiktok, so sorry :(. i can only seem to manage ao3 or tiktok, never both at the same time lol.
> 
> but i had to post after the masquerade yesterday bc it was so GOOD!
> 
> i hope you doing well and you’re safe <3
> 
> have a good afternoon!


End file.
